Popular streamer DrLupo has admitted to cheating after he was removed from the PogChamps 6 chess tournament. Chess.com has stated he committed a fair play violation.
On April 30, DrLupo, a 650-rated player, faced off against YouTuber Wolfe ‘Wolfey’ Glick, who holds a 1340 rating, in the $100,000 tournament.
Viewers noted that after an early blunder where DrLupo left his queen unprotected, he proceeded to play the remainder of the game flawlessly, executing moves many considered atypical for a player of his skill level.
Viewers also observed that he appeared to glance between monitors during critical moments, suggesting possible external assistance.
Initially denying the allegations, DrLupo posted on X, “Literally explained all of it on stream as I was playing. Didn’t cheat. Had a good game and got rolled the rest of the day.”
DrLupo addresses chess cheating allegations
In a follow-up post, he stated he had chosen to drop out, although Chess.com’s statement suggests he was removed.
“Had a ton of fun playing, but have decided to drop out of the event to help maintain competitive integrity for those involved, as well as the tourney organizers,” DrLupo said.
“Having the main stream up on my left monitor over the course of the day today to watch other games being played led to me getting move information I shouldn’t have had for a game.
“That’s on me and no one else. That’s my f**k up. I apologize – you’d think I would know better, but here we are.”
In a reply, he admitted to reading chat, which he says was giving him moves.
“Believe me or not – I played what I played. Pulled from chat though, couldn’t stop looking. Which as I said, I know better.”
DrLupo admits using engine chess cheat
However, on his next stream, DrLupo admitted to using chess software to cheat. This software, known as an ‘engine’, provides the user the optimum move at any time in a chess match.
“I f**ked up. And I deserve 100% of what people are saying. Using the engine to fix my own fragility is f**king pathetic.”
Chess.com, the organizer of PogChamps, announced that DrLupo had been removed from the chess tournament due to a “fair play violation.”
“DrLupo has been closed for a fair play violation that occurred during today’s Pogchamps event. He will be replaced in the consolation bracket before the start of tomorrow’s round.
“We wish everyone the best tomorrow and remind them that receiving any help during a match is a violation of our FP Policy and will result in a DQ and account closure.”
In an X post on May 2, DrLupo went into more detail, and apologized to his opponent, Wolfey.
“I screwed up big time. The internet has been right basically since the beginning, and it’s taken me multiple waves of self reflection and internal fighting to get to the point where I can fully admit fault without holding back. I lied to the internet, repeatedly. I cheated, and betrayed the trust of countless people that believed in me. Viewers, family, friends. Everyone. Myself. I carry a lot of baggage, and you all got exposed to it in the worst way. I lied directly to @danielrensch. I lied directly to @WolfeyGlick and used him as a prop on stream. He didn’t deserve that. None of you did. I messaged him directly to apologize, and I’ll gladly do it on stream, too.
“I’ve spent a big part of my life being really good at games. When I suddenly wasn’t good enough, I lied. Between games while waiting, they said to be sure to only have one Chess.com window open. So I was playing games against a computer on my other monitor using lichess.org where my chat window usually is to practice between rounds. Once I blundered my queen, I panicked. I used the analysis feature there and my brain couldn’t stop after that. I figured out the lines, but every time I panicked after that, I did it again. It wasn’t something that I planned on doing. I really did practice quite a bit leading up to the event.
“People kept asking me why I did it – I think I did it for a false sense of self validation. To convince myself that I could win when clearly I shouldn’t have. It was disrespectful to the entire online chess community. I was stupid enough to not even considering the consequences of what I was doing. And I accept those consequences now, because I deserve it. I understand that people are going to question everything in my career now. I don’t blame them. I was the guy that vocally hated people who cheated in video games, Tarkov is riddled with it. And I did the most hypocritical thing I could do.
“I talked about mental health on stream yesterday morning because that stuff is very real for me. I’m restarting therapy this afternoon, I found someone through Sondermind that was available almost immediately, which was nice. I clearly have a problem with honesty to myself and those that care about me. It sucks that it took something like this to blow up in my face, but I’m hoping that it results in me finally fixing problems with myself that I’ve had for years.
“I’m sorry. To everyone. My friends and family. People that watch me. Anyone that I associate with. I betrayed your trust. I hope one day people can forgive me, and I understand if they can’t. I hope one day I can forgive myself, too. I’m typically pretty hard on myself.”
PogChamps 6 will conclude on May 2, with $20,000 for the first-place prize. Other streamers featured in the tournament include Mongraal, Hungrybox and Macaiyla.
